Sleet-cutter for overhead trolleys.



J. E. DOZIER. SLEET CUTTER FOB. OVERHEAD TROLLEYS.

. APPLICATION FILED 11111.5, 1911. 1,101,838. Patented June 30,1914.

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COLUMBIA FLANOURAPH CO.,WASHINGTDN, I:v c.

onrrnn STATES. PATENT on mm JOSEPH E. 'DOZIER, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF. ONE

' STIMSON, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

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1,101,838, Specification of Letters Patent. Pittlitedf. J U119 30, 1914;

Application filed January 5, 1911. Serial No. 601,054.

To all whom it may concern Belt known that I, JOSEPH EJDOZIER, a

I citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sleet-Cutters for Overhead Trolleys; and I do hereby declare the following to bea i'ull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to" which it appertains to make and use the same. I

My invention relates to improvements in sleet cutters for over-head trolley wires, and consists among'other things of a cutter having a plurality of cutting elements, a cutter having a long engaging edge, means to mount such cutter adjustably on a trolley pole and so to mount the cutter that it will engage the underside of the trolley wirein advanceof the trolley wheel, and means to insulate such cutter and its support fromthe trolley pole at all times and under all conditions, means to readily place the cutter in position away from the wire, all as hereinafter setforth. I

Theohject of my invention is to provide a device or applianc'e'torremoving sleet from a trolley wirev in advance of the trolley wheel, as above-noted, which device or appliance is capableof adjustment around the trolley pole, to which it is attache'ch'as well as longitudinally thereon, so that upon occasion the cutter can be located out of the way underneath such pole; is so insulated as to avoid any possibility of sparking, even though the free or cutter terminal or head of the appliance were to come into contact with the pole; and is susceptible of long and continuous use, owing to the fact that the cutter has more than one cutting element, any one of which can bebrought into play with but little difiiculty, and a cutter having a long bearing for contact with the" wire so that danger of its slipping tromthe wire on curves, frogs, switches etc., is avoided. It is thus clearly to be seen that the new appliance is not only highly efficient but simple, convenient and durable.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description. My invention is shown in the accompanying drawing inwhich Figure 1 shows a top plan view of the upper end of a trolley pole with mi im-- proved sleet cutter attached thereto." F 2 shows an enlarged view of the sleet cut ter in cross section and showing its engage ment with the trolley wire. Fig. 3 shows a side elevation of the upper portion of the trolley pole with my improved sleet cutter connected therewith and in engagement with the trolley wire. Fi'g. dshows an enlarged detail of the detachableinsulated connection between the sleet cutter and the trolley pole.

taken on a 1ine5 '5' in that figure.

Similar referencecharacters will be em- Fig. 5 shows a cross section through Fig.4

ployed throughout the specification and drawing to designate corresponding parts.

In the drawing 1 represents the trolley pole which is or maybe of any'usua'l and preferred "construction, and which is connected "with the top of the car in the usual manner, and is yieldingly pressed upward so as to press trolley wheel 2 in contact with "the overhead trolley wire 3, so that the electric current generated from. the usual power station shall be conducted from the trolley wire 3 through the trolley wheel 2 r and the trolley pole l, to the motor on the car. I

In wintry weather the trolley wire 3 often becomes covered with sleet and ice so'that the trolley wheel 2cannot make a good'e'leotrical connection with the trolley wire 3, and it becomes necessary to removethe sleet and ice from the trolley wire, and-'for'this purpose I have provided a sleet cutter shown as a cutter bar 4, adjustably mounted at the upper ends of spring arms 5 so that the cutter bar 4 will be yieldingly held in contact with the under side of the trolley wire '3'. The cutter bar a is preferably rectangular in cross section and provided withthe cut.- ting edges 6 and the grooves7, and it iszpreferably adjustably connected to the upper ends of the spring arms 5 by means of cotter said bar or its ears in said arms to present afresh cutting edge.

As SllOWILlIl the drawlngthe cutter bar 4 is arranged in advance of the trolley wheel. '2, so that as the car advancesthesleet cutter will engage the under side of the trolley 3 wire 3 in advance of the trolley wheel 2 and break up and remove therefrom the sleet and ice which may be gathered thereon.

3y providing the arms 5 for the cutter bar 4t, I am able to use a bar of sufficient length to compensate for or accommodate or adjust itself to the trolley wire regardless of any lateral vibration or divergence, and thus obviate any liability on the partof the cutter of slipping off of the trolley wire and then rising up against one side thereof. The long bearing of the cutter prevents danger of the cutter leaving the conductor when passing a switch or frog or when the car is traversing a curve.

It is of course desirable that the sleet cutter shall engage the trolley wire with a yielding pressure and to this end it is mounted upon. a yielding carrier which may be the spring arms 5 of the drawing, or any other form of yielding device which will yieldingly press the said cutter against the under side of the trolley wire. The spring arms are at their lower ends mounted in a clamp 11 which is arranged to be detachably connected to the trolley pole 1, and to this end it is provided with ears or lugs 12 to receive threaded bolts 13 by means of which the clamp is arranged to be detachably yet fixedly connected to the trolley pole 1, the lower ends 14 of the spring arms 5 being connected to the clamp 11 by means of the rivets 15 or in any other suitable manner.

It is of course essential that the sleet cut-- ter shall be connected to the trolley pole 1 so that it shall be entirely insulated therefrom and so that none of the current which passes from the trolley wire 3 to the trolley wheel 2 shall be conducted to the sleet cutter or its support, and for the purpose of insulating the sleet cutter, I provide an insulating sleeve 16 which is made of any suitable insulating material, which surrounds the trolley pole 1 between the clamp 11 and said pole, and which sleeve as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, is preferably somewhat longer than the clamp 11. Also the cutter bar a is provided upon its under side with an insulating block or buffer 17, see Figs. 2 and 3, which is made of any suitable insulating material, and which when the spring arms are depressed will prevent the cutter bar 4 from coming in contact with the trolley pole 1 or any other part of the metallic portions of said trolley pole. The insulating buffer 17 is seated in the groove 7 in the bar a that opens adjacent to the pole 1, and when said bar is readjusted to present a fresh cutting edge 6 to the wire 3 said buffer is removed from said groove and inserted in another groove 7, the latter being the one that will again locate said buffer between said bar and said pole as it was in the first instance.

By makingthe support of the sleet cutter l of metallic spring arms I can adjust the 1,101.,sss

tension or pressure of the sleet cutter by imparting to said arms suitable bends so that they will force the sleet cutter l upward with more or less pressure.

It will be observed that the spring arms keep the sleet cutter in contact with the under side of the trolley wire 3 with such force as to remove therefrom the sleet which may be gathered thereon, and that the sleet cutter acts in advance of the trolley wheel, thus providing a clean and smooth surface contact between the trolley wheel and the trolley wire, and it will be further observed that the sleet cutter is entirely insulated from the trolley pole in suchmanner that under no ordinary conditions can any current pass from the trolley wire to the sleet cutter. These two features I regard as of the essence of my invention, and while I have in the drawing and the foregoing specification illustrated and described what I regard the best form of my invention, I desire to state that I do not regard that my invention is limited to the details of con struction thus shown and described.

I. cla m as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. A sleet cutter, of the class described, comprising a yielding support adapted to be attached to a: trolley pole, and a normally non-rotating supporting head provided with a plurality of cutting elements, adjustably rotatable connected with such support.

2. A cutter, of the class described, comprising a yielding support adapted to be attached to a trolley pole, a cutter provided with a plurality of cutting elements and with a plurality of attaching means for an insulating buffer, such cutter being adjustably connected with said support, and an insulating buffer adapted to be retained in connection with said cutter by any of said attaching means.

3. A sleet cutter, of the class described,

comprising a yielding support adapted to be attached to a trolley pole, means to insulate such support from such pole, a cutter provided with a plurality of cutting elements and with a plurality of attaching means for an insulating buffer, such cutter being adjustably connected with said support, and an insulating buffer adapted to be retained in connection with said cutter by any of said attaching means.

i. A sleet cutter for trolleys comprising a cutter, spring arms supporting said cutter,

means for detachably connecting said spring 1 arms to the trolley pole with the cutter in advance of the trolley, and means for insulating both the cutter and its support from the trolley pole, substantially as described.

5. A sleet cutter for trolley wires c-ompris' ing in combination with a trolley pole a support mounted on the pole two independent spring arms 10 mounted on the support and projecting from opposite sides thereof independent of each other and a cutter mounted between the free ends of said arms.

6. A sleet cutter for trolleys comprising a cutter head or scraper, the scraping elements being straight from end to end, and adapted to be moved longitudinally of the scraper laterally of the wire and of suflicient length to permit the passage of a cararound curves without the scraper being moved laterally out of contact with the wire, whereby lateral strain on the supporting mechanism is avoided when the car passes curves, a pair of independent resilient arms arranged to be supported by and project upwardly at an angle from the pole to the cutter supporting elements said arms being arranged to support the cutter head and permit the same .to move Vertically and horizontally, and

means for supporting the cutter head at the free ends of the spring arms.

7. A sleetcutter for trolleys comprising a cutter having a straight cutting edge of length sufiicient to remain in contact with the trolley wire when the car is passing around curves and of a length greater than the width of frogs, two long independent spring arms arranged to support said cutter between their outer end portions, said arms being mounted on the trolley pole and adj ustable lengthwise of the pole substantially as shown.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH E. DOZIER. Witnesses:

T. HART ANDERSON, L. B. NOYES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). 0. v 

